Phone Call
by Rose DiVerona
Summary: It's been twenty-five years since graduation from Rydell High. Betty Rizzo-Hawkins is contemplating attending the reunion when she gets an unexpected phone call from an old friend.


A/N: My first _Grease _fanfic. My high school is performing the musical this spring, and auditions are this week. I got in _Grease_ mode and decided to write a oneshot. Reunion is probably a common topic, but I'm not covering that, just a phone conversation between Sandy and Rizzo beforehand. I don't think I could keep everyone in-character otherwise. If either woman seems OOC in this, keep in mind it is twenty-five years later, and people change a lot in that time.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. But I wish I owned the car at the end of the movie.

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**Phone Call**

Betty Rizzo-Hawkins pawed halfheartedly at the stack of mail on the kitchen counter. Bill…bill…letter for Ted Hawkins….bill…letter from Rydell High…bill – Rydell High?

She pulled the letter out of the pile, her eyes skimming the envelope, but it offered no further information as to what might lie inside. Slightly apprehensively, she ripped it open and retrieved the folded letter, reading it over. Then she groaned.

Twenty-fifth reunion. She should have known, should have kept track of the date. It had been twenty-five years since graduation. It was hard to believe.

Rizzo sighed. She'd ignored the past letters of tenth, fifteenth and then twentieth reunions. She didn't want to go back to the memories of that time in her life. Freewheeling Rizzo was gone, and had been replaced by Settled-down, Mother-of-two Betty. She wasn't the same person she had been back then, and she wasn't sure if her old friends could ever understand – unless they'd changed, too.

The phone rang. It was picked up almost immediately by Rizzo's older child, Suzy, from the extension in her bedroom.

"Mom! It's for you!" she called down the hall. Rizzo let the letter fall to the counter, dropping into a chair and answering the kitchen phone.

"Hello?"

"_Rizzo?_"

The voice was unexpectedly familiar. "_Sandy_? Sandy Olsson?"

Sandy laughed. "_Well, it's Sandy Zuko now, but yes, it's me."_

"You married Zuko?" Rizzo asked incredulously.

"_Quite a while ago. If you'd come to any of our high school reunions, you'd know that_." There was something accusatory in Sandy's tone that made Rizzo instantly defensive.

"I can't help it if I avoid remembering those awful years. I've changed a lot, you know."

"_I _don't_ know, Riz. Or should I call you Betty?_"

"Rizzo's fine." Being called Betty reminded Rizzo too much of Kenickie, which made a lump form in her throat.

"_Well, as I was saying, I might know you better if I saw you occasionally. We haven't seen each other in almost twenty years!_"

Rizzo sighed. "I know. Hey, wait, how did you get this number?"

"_Actually, Jan gave it to me. She said she talked to you a few years ago."_

Vaguely, Rizzo remembered a conversation with Jan when they'd met by accident at the hairdresser and exchanged numbers, which neither had used since.

"Oh, yeah, I remember."

"_Well, are you coming to the Rydell reunion next month?_"

"I'm not sure, Sandy. It might be nice to see everyone again, but I'm not the same person they knew twenty-five years ago. What if they expect me to be someone I no longer am?" Rizzo didn't know why she was confiding in Sandy, but of all people, she was sure she would get the most honest answer from the Australian.

"_It's been a long time, Riz. I bet you aren't the only one who's changed. We're adults now, with jobs and children. Speaking of which, do you have any?_"

"Yes, two. Suzy and Tom, fifteen and eleven."

"_Oh, that's great! Danny and I have Melanie, who's sixteen, Daniel Jr., twelve, and Cynthia, eight. Danny's changed a lot since you knew him, Riz, so why is it so hard to believe the others have, too? Have you seen any of them in a while?_"

"Other than that one encounter with Jan, no," Rizzo admitted. "I saw Frenchie six or seven years ago, but it was just in passing, and we didn't talk. I'm not even sure she saw me. Did any of them go the reunion five years ago?"

"_Yes. Frenchy was there, and Sonny and Doody and Jan. All of them but Sonny are married now. None to each other. Putzie and Marty weren't there. I heard Marty married a rich business tycoon and moved to another part of the country. I don't know anything about Putzie. Frenchy's a beautician! She actually finished school and everything._" Sandy laughed. "_Isn't it funny? Everything's changed so much, but we still call everyone those funny high school nicknames._"

"Hilarious." Rizzo felt her old sarcasm coming back, a result of talking with a friend from her high school years, no doubt.

"_What about you_?" Sandy asked. "_You're married, right?_"

"His name's Ted. He's sweet, but simple. It's been almost eighteen years."

"_Do you love him?_" Sandy asked quietly.

Rizzo rolled her eyes. Her thoughts strayed back to the first boy she'd ever truly cared for. He wasn't her first boyfriend, or her first time, but he was the first guy she thought she might really love. Kenickie had almost been too _much_ like her. It was a problem, but one they'd overcome for graduation. Then it was off-and-on for a couple years. Finally, Rizzo moved on. One day the newspaper proclaimed Kenickie was dead, killed in a gang fight. Apparently it was a rumble that had something to do with car ownership. Rizzo didn't remember, or care to remember. It was long over.

"_Riz?_"

Sandy's voice snapped Rizzo back to the present.

"Yes, I love him," she said curtly. "What is this, twenty questions?"

"_I'm sorry,_" Sandy said quietly, somehow seeming to understand what had remained unspoken between the two of them.

"Listen, Sandy, I've got to go." Rizzo said. "I have…an appointment to get to." In reality, she just wanted to avoid any more uncomfortable inquiries.

"_All right,_" Sandy sounded disappointed. "_Just think about coming, okay? I would love to see you, and Danny would, too_." When Rizzo snorted, Sandy persisted. "_He would! Just think about it_."

"Okay," Rizzo agreed. "Bye."

"_Good-bye_."

When she had hung up, Rizzo stared at the letter she'd received as if she could make it disappear. Half of her wanted to go to the reunion, but her other half pulled back instinctively from the idea. Was she ready for those memories? Memories of _him_?

She stood and straightened. This wasn't just about him. It was about seeing her old classmates again. Sure, most of them would remember her the way she had been back then, maybe they'd even whisper behind her back. But the small group of close companions she'd had, her friends…it would be refreshing to see them again after all these years. To see what they had become. Well, she'd made her decision. Going to the reunion could be fun. There were worse things she could do, after all.

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A/N: I had to have my little line at the end. I'm singing "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" for my audition. I hope you liked, review? 


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